Would you be interested in this?

[christmasbirdsandchristmasherd]

I have an imaginary stall at the Christmas Market.
I set it up every Christmas in my head, I make all of the things but end up giving it all away as gifts because I'm too embarrassed to try to sell it all.
Would you be interested in buying any of this? If yes how much would you expect to pay? If not, what is putting you off?

There is-

-Jams and chutneys from home grown or locally forrgaged fruit and vegetables.
-Knitted ornaments
-Knitted hat, scarf and mittens
-Handmade pop up cards, with intricate mechanisms and moving parts.
-hand sewn gift bags
-Baked goods, cookies, cupcakes etc
-knitted or hand sewn dolls and teddies

Its a bit naff isn't it? Its all I can do and when I give out my gifts everyone says I should try selling them but I'm not sure anyone would buy it.
and I would know where to start with pricing.
What do you think? Would it be worth pursuing?

Background, I'm a sahm completely dependent on dh and I wouldn't mind having something to do other than child care and housework.

Obviously it depends on quality, but theoretically i would be interested in all of that. The cards especially sound interesting.

The thing is I really enjoy making the little bits and bobs. Its the only thing in life thats Still me and not wife and mother.
I always imaging having a little cafe and selling the bits and bobs on the side, but I should probably start with a real stall over an imaginary one!

They all sound absolutely lovely! With the edibles you’d have to get everything ticked off for health and safety regarding the cooking area, but I think they’d be very popular. Not necessarily things I would buy (but I make my own jams etc, crochet, sew and bake - are you me…? ). I think they would be absolutely perfect things to see at a Christmas fair though. Go for it!

If you're nervous to sell things face to face (no reason why you should be, but I understand), could you try selling on etsy? It might boost your confidence in your skills to do the Christmas markets next year.

Maybe the cards for me, depending on how good they were. Knitted goods not so much, I’m sorry, edibles yes, if they gave the impression everything was done with food hygiene practices in place and well packaged.

i am a sucker for knitted toys

You could try selling your hand made items on Etsy as a start.

Sorry somebody else has just suggested this. But thats the way forward.

Oh also little craft packs so you have instructions and then I would prepare all of the bits and bobs to make it up.
I have seen these in the shops for £10 plus and thought I could probably make one up for less than pound from the extra bits from my other crafts and just make a little gift box to put them in.

When I was a child I loved having extra clothes or accessories for my toys so I was thinking I could do a build a bear type thing aswell where I knit a doll or animal and knit some clothes that would be a one size fits all and the child picks which jumper, hat, dress, bag etc. I would have loved that as a child.

Also there is a little reindeer food station (NO GLITTER!) oats, bird seed etc and the child chooses which seeds and bits go into their own personalised sewn pouch. The pouch can be reused year after year.

I love making little card games aswell for the children, would hand drawn cards typed on a typewriter be of interest?

Also those small little colouring books in pound land, I draw and type silly little stories personalised with my children's names and they colour in the pictures. Just simple but I would have bought the l
tiny pocket books as stocking fillers.
In fact I have brought everything on the list and always thought "i could do that" so I did when I became a sahm and have gotten better over the years.

To price it you need to work out the cost and time it took to create. Then work out how much you want your hourly rate to be. Then see how that compares to other similar things out there.

I crochet to keep my hands busy and my mind off work in the evenings. I have a little Facebook page and an Instagram account.

Used to sell loads - rainbow star blankets flew out but life got in the way and I stopped.

Have a look at online market nights on Facebook.

If you have any crafty pals could you team up and have a stall between you? Maybe too late this year but you could sort certificates for the jams etc during this year.

Good luck - I love crafty stuff!

I don't really understand etsy, don't the people have to pay etsy to sell on there and then postage and packaging. So something I would sell for £1 at a stall would cost closer to £5 or £6 on etsy.
I know I have looked on there before and a small knitted toy has been for sale for £10 and up. The prices put me off.

What would you be happy paying on etsy?

I know its just a dream but I am getting a little bit excited now

Just to add op, you sound bloody lovely!

Id love the cards! Do you have a website?

I think the knitted build a bear idea is lovely and I would also buy chutneys and jams.

On my local Gumtree there are some great Christmas things for sale every year. Including bobble hats for Ferraro Roche and chocolate oranges!

@worryticket I always look at the people who I buy from on Facebook and Instagram and they always seem more put together than I am!
What made you stop?

Ha! no pals I'm afraid, I've been a sahm for going on a decade now and this is my only me time (in the house when the children are watching TV or on bed) I really enjoy it though! except when the baby sneaks up and pulls the work off the needles

I'd definitely be interested - it all sounds lovely. I've just walked home through a row of Christmas market stalls, selling things similar to what you describe. They're there every weekend in these weeks up to Christmas although it's raining today so fewer people, but they seem to do a good trade.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

Id love the cards! Do you have a website?

Ha maybe one day

[quote christmasbirdsandchristmasherd]@worryticket I always look at the people who I buy from on Facebook and Instagram and they always seem more put together than I am!
What made you stop?

Ha! no pals I'm afraid, I've been a sahm for going on a decade now and this is my only me time (in the house when the children are watching TV or on bed) I really enjoy it though! except when the baby sneaks up and pulls the work off the needles [/quote]
I still hook and am itching to have a project to focus on. I'm not sure when I stopped pushing stuff on Social Media. I might start up again though 🤔

Do you have all the bits ready? You could look up craft fayres in your area and pop a message out asking if anyone wants to buddy up on their stall?

The reality is its terrifically hard to do this sort of thing in the uk as an individual and actually charge enough to pay yourself even minimum wage for the time you spend.

Enough people enjoy doing this stuff as a hobby that they are willing to do it in their spare time & sell at little more than material cost price.

OP pop some stuff on Etsy or Not On The High Street. Gurantee you'll get some orders

No nothing ready now, its all been ear marked for gifts.
What pushed me is my sister asked if I would make some more for her friends children. She has asked a few years now but I've always been too embarrassed for her to give the stuff to strangers. Family are much more forgiving. Plus I get to bore them with the new stich I've just learnt.
"Look dad this is knit, purl, knit, knit when last year I just did Knit, purl, knit, purl. Dad. Dad? Wake up Dad!"

facebook.com/events/s/ready-to-post-event/306287167995494/

Have a look here to see how your stuff compares

I thought about doing similar with the crafty stuff. I chose a business name then bought the domain name for under £2.
This then let me play around with ideas for a website.
I stopped through covid.

A piece of good advice that I was given for selling on a stall was to sign up for the ability to take cards. That way you can get impulse buys.